Anita Bruzzese is the author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy. We were fortunate to meet her at a conference we attended a few months back. She had a great post recently, where she discussed a game she played with her kids called, “Which would you rather?”

With this game, you present your fellow players with a choice. For instance, I asked Mary-Lynn which she would rather give up for a month – chocolate or her cell phone.

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That was a tough question, but I would give up chocolate. My phone is my mobile device; there’s no way I could live without it for a month!

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Hmmm … Mary-Lynn with no chocolate. I’d plan to be away that month!

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A fun way to keep a conversation going

When we discussed conversation continuers recently, we said that games are one way to keep a conversation going. This is a great example of a game you could play to do that. For example, you could ask …

If you check out her post, you can see how I answered the questions she asked.

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A fun way to improve strategic decision-making

Decision trees are a great way to visualize possible business strategies, since a business can be thought of as a series of either / or options. Sounds like a ramped-up version of “Which would you rather”, doesn’t it? Question 1 leads to Question 2 and so on.

For example, let’s say you plan to start a restaurant. Play “Which would you rather?”

Which would you rather open – a big restaurant or a small restaurant? Let’s say you choose bigg … with two g’s of course!

Which would you rather be – part of a franchise system or an independent? You really want to create your own brand, so you want to be independent.

Where would you locate – in a strip center or a free-standing building? You could do some research to determine which one seems to work better for restaurants like the one you plan to start.

We could keep going, but you get the idea. The reason you create the decision tree is to see the impact of your choices. For instance, if you chose “franchise” for the second question, they may specify whether you’re inline or free-standing.

A fun way to teach your kids critical entrepreneurial skills

Play this game with your kids and help them develop critical entrepreneurial skills! Just add the “decision tree” dimension one question at a time. So instead of asking your kids to think of one question, ask them to think of three – the initial question and a follow-up question for each of the possible answers. They’ll be thinking like an entrepreneur in no time!

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles. They three-peated – winning three championships in a row in 1991, 1992, and 1993. That hadn’t been done for about thirty years. After that run, because of the unfortunate death of his father, Michael stepped down from the game he loved.

Now Scottie was the leader of the team. The Bulls did well during the regular season, but weren’t able to win the bigg prize. In the spring of 1995, Michael announced he was coming out of retirement. The Bulls and their fans were elated. Perhaps no one was happier than Scottie.

The Bulls didn’t win the prize that year, but they were fully ready by the next season when they won the first of three more titles in a row – the repeat three-peat in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Scottie struggled at times as the leader, as #1, but he thrived when he followed Michael’s lead. Sometimes it pays to be #2. Because after Michael returned, Scottie reached the height of his game again and became one of basketball’s all-time greats.

Know your own strengths. You may be perfectly suited to top management, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be #1.

Know how you complement other people on your team. We’re talking about Michael and Scottie as if they were the whole team. The Bulls didn’t become one of the greatest teams of all time just because of these two players. It was the whole team and the coach that accomplished this great feat. Realize that you may achieve greater success by being #2.Scottie didn’t win any championships without Michael. Of course, Michael didn’t win any championships without Scottie, either. Being #1 doesn’t mean being the only one. They were both successful on their own, but together they achieved bigg success.

Sometimes the best way to insure your own bigg success is to work with someone who drives you to step up your game because they play at such a high level. Then the two of you both become more successful than you could ever be on your own.

Scottie was a leader, tooScottie was a leader even when Michael was around. That’s part of the reason Michael was able to do as well as he did. Michael even commented one season that Scottie was the best player in professional basketball.

But when Michael wasn’t there, Scottie wasn’t his same old self. His demeanor was different. He didn’t seem as focused. Michael lifted some of the weight off of his shoulders so he could excel at what he did best.

So we’re not saying that you shouldn’t be a leader. It’s just that some people are better off not being the leader.

We'd like to be part of your team and complement your strengths! Subscribe to Bigg Success in iTunes, or subscribe to our feed.Or just visit us here every day!

Our bigg quote today comes from Donald H. McGannon:

“Leadership is action, not position.”

So no matter what your number is in your organization, take action to be a leader.

Next time, we’ll discuss how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Bobby Knight spent most of his career at Indiana and recently retired from Texas Tech. He won more games than any other coach in the history of college basketball. He also made more NCAA tournament appearances than anyone else. He won three championships (tied for third) and was selected the coach of the year four times.

John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, spent most of his career at UCLA. While there he won a record ten championships, including an amazing seven in a row. He holds the record for most games won in a row (88) and most undefeated seasons (4).

Bobby Knight’s way – Build your playbook and recruit the best talent for it.Bobby Knight was known for his “motion offense” and aggressive man-to-man defense. Knight only recruited players that fit his model. He had a system; his players had to mold themselves to it. This is the most common way to build your team.

Design your playbook. Determine the duties of each position and recruit people to fill it. Then hold them accountable.

John Wooden’s way – Find the best talent and build your playbook around them.Wooden played the game based on who he had. Some years, that meant great guards; at other times, he built around a big man in the middle. Sometimes he played man-to-man; sometimes he played zone – it all depended on his players.

This isn’t as commonly practiced in business as Knight’s strategy. In basketball, you have seasons. In business, you don’t. But you do have phases.

In each phase, you’re trying to accomplish certain things so you can move on to the next phase. That’s where Wooden’s strategy works – think about what you need to accomplish in this phase and who would best help you accomplish it. Then go get your players!

#4 – Your coach went a little too far with the motivational tools he picked up at Guantanamo Bay.

#3 – Your team was too pre-occupied with midterms and grad school applications to focus on silly things like sports.#2 – They did the right thing by losing and thus avoiding the inevitable riots and on-campus arson incidents that happen when teams win the national championship.

#1 – At least by losing, they can finally get those cheerleaders and the pep band to shut the heck up.

Our bigg quote today is by Jean-Claude Kelly:

“The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion.”

So learn from these champions to build your winning team.

Next time, we’ll discuss a key component that gets people to buy into your personal brand. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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If you want to reach the heights of your career, you have to build confidence. We develop our confidence, or lack thereof, from childhood on. Every experience builds upon the next. Learn how to build upon your success and defeat destructive thought patterns so you can win the game you choose to play!

Want to be More Attractive?

People are attracted to confident people. So if you want to be a leader, you have to exude confidence. We found a great article by John Wesley on the Pick Your Brain site. He offers ten tips to build your confidence. We loved it!

The Power of Doing What You Do Best

The judges of the reality show, Britain’s Got Talent, got quite a surprise when this young man showed up to sing opera. After all, when’s the last time an opera singer reached the masses? See how the audience and the judges responded to one person doing what he does best.

Setting a goal is easy. Getting it is much harder. There’s a very simple technique you can employ to make getting them much more likely …

Share your goals.

When you tell other people about your goals, your “skin in the game” increases. Now other people can watch your progress.

You’ll feel some pressure that you may not feel otherwise. That’s the point. By sharing your goals, you run the risk of failing. More importantly, you run the risk of failing in front of others.

It’s a mental thing. We’re okay if we don’t live up to the commitments to make to ourselves. But we don’t like to let other people down. We want their respect. So we work harder to gain it, and keep it.

So if you want to succeed bigg, stick your neck out … share your goals with other people. People who you know will help you reach them.

You can't have Bigg Success without a good laugh from time to time. You'll find fun videos here, jokes, humorous stories and more. Send your fun stuff to bigginfo@biggsuccees.com. We’re looking for funny videos, photos, e-mails, resumes, signs, jokes, or anything else that relate to work and life.

Video of the Week

"Ellen's wacky chair"

This office chair is designed to give you a work out while you work. But is it really a mechanical bull in disguise? Click here to see the video.

Source: YouTube

Thought of the Week

"The value of time"

Have you ever noticed that the people who complain the most about not having enough time to do their work always seem to have time to tell everyone that they don’t have enough time to do all of their work?